The View From Here

Florida, Part 2: Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure

Jan 02, 2016

You can NOT go to Florida, and not visit a theme park. It just wouldn't be right. So while we were there, we loaded into my brother's bus (yup, a bus) and headed straight for Orlando!

We were mostly excited for the expansion they've made to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter; it used to be just one of the 'islands' at Islands of Adventure, but now they have an entire area dedicated to Harry Potter in the main Universal Studios park as well (those sneaky bastards making you purchase a 2-park pass...), that you arrive at by taking the Hogwarts Express! #noshame #hplove.....

So before we go on, a few things:

1.) I mostly took pictures of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter so I apologize for a lack of photos around other areas of the park (they aren't as cool anyway ;)

2.) I did not want to lug around my nice camera, so these are all from my phone. Forgive me.

So here are the few pictures of other park areas that I did manage to get:

Marvel Island

Lost City of Atlantis

Dr. Suess World

Our "Flaming Moe" at Moe's Bar in the Simpson's area

And the end of a parade we caught at Universal Studios after leaving The Mummy (one of the best rides!)

There is SO much more to both parks, and even just so much more to all of these "islands", but we either skipped over them (because we're Floridians and we've been to them a million times), or we were having too much fun riding rides that we forgot to stop for photos. BUT, I did take a bajillion pictures of The Wizarding World, so prepare yourself!

We started at Islands of Adventure, which is supposed to Hogsmeade and the Hogwarts campus. The coaster through Hogwarts is amazing. The Butter Beer is amazing. The Pumpkin Juice is amazing. It's all amazing.

And then you board the Hogwarts Express, that takes you over to the other park (SPOILER: there's a video screen for your "train window" that shows your journey throughout the countryside)

And then you arrive at Diagon Alley!

And in traditional fashion, soft-serve ice cream after a day at a theme park. Always. And this time, it was Butterbeer flavored. You don't KNOW dessert until you've had Butterbeer ice cream.

I wish I had taken even MORE pictures for all you Harry Potter fans, because the detail that was put into making this magical atmosphere what it is, was so incredibly impressive. Colorado just doesn't understand theme parks. Maybe one day....

Until then, I'll just have to get my fix whenever we go back to Florida <3